Executives from leading healthcare organizations and hospitals worldwide are collaborating with Stanford Health Policy, Primary Care and Population Health and the Clinical Excellence Research Center to create an evidence-based health policy agenda that will provide strategic guidance and support to its members over the next decade.

This partnership with the Future of Health (FOH) is the next step in the nonprofit's research program focused on shaping the future of healthcare. Stanford was chosen after a thorough selection process, reflecting FOH's commitment to high standards in research as they continue to grow their influence and research efforts worldwide.

The four-year collaboration will be led by Stanford Health Policy’s Sara Singer, PhD, MBA, a professor of health policy and medicine in the School of Medicine and professor, by courtesy, of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She will serve as project lead and guide FOH’s annual research agenda, expert engagement, and publication process.

“FOH represents a unique opportunity to connect rigorous research with real-world leadership,” said Singer, who is also an associate director of the Clinical Excellence Research Center (CERC) at Stanford Medicine.

“What excites me about this partnership is its strong commitment to producing research that is both methodologically sound and directly relevant to the decisions health system leaders face,” Singer said. “By combining structured consensus-building methods, rich qualitative research, and active engagement with FOH members and topic experts, we can generate insights that are practical, timely, and actionable.”

Singer will collaborate with Cati Brown-Johnson, PhD, at the Stanford Evaluative Sciences Unit in Primary Care and Population Health, and with advisors Loren Baker, PhD, at Stanford Health Policy, Steven Asch, MD, MPH, from Primary Care and Population Health, and CERC’s Arnold Milstein, MD, MPH.

FOH brings together more than 60 senior executives from health systems, government, academia, and industry around the world to identify shared challenges and translate international experience into evidence-based operational and strategic guidance. Each year, FOH members and external experts identify and prioritize research topics that reflect urgent and emerging pressures on health systems worldwide.

FOH’s research methodology begins with a modified Delphi process, involving multiple rounds of surveys and feedback to reach consensus on priority areas. Topic chairs are then selected to guide each workstream, ensuring strong clinical and policy leadership throughout the research cycle.

Singer said the collaboration is a boon for Stanford Health Policy and CERC.

“We gain the opportunity to learn alongside and to influence health system leaders globally,” she said. “That kind of connection is precious for researchers who want their work to make an impact.”

Stanford’s research team will lead literature reviews, global expert workgroups, and FOH member working sessions, integrating academic evidence with frontline operational experience. The process culminates in the development of executive summaries, innovation case studies, and peer-reviewed manuscripts intended to inform policy and health system strategy globally.

“FOH is designed to serve as a north star for health systems, guiding leaders in envisioning where we need to go and providing direction on how to get there,” said Future of Health’s Co-Chairmen Eyal Zimlichman, chief transformation, innovation and AI officer of ARC, Sheba Medical Center, and Chip Kahn, former president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals.

“As we look ahead, Stanford brings exceptional expertise in health policy, delivery science, and implementation research that will further strengthen the connection between global dialogue and real-world healthcare transformation.”

With Stanford as its new research partner, FOH will continue to expand its international expert network, accelerate publication timelines, and deepen engagement between health system leaders, policymakers and academic researchers. The first research outputs from the Stanford-led collaboration are expected to be released in early 2027, following FOH’s annual summit and global expert workgroup process.

FOH also recognized the foundational role played by Duke University’s Margolis Center for Health Policy, which served as the organization’s research partner for the past four years and helped shape its research standards and publication strategy.